End the pressure on journalism!
Criminal complaint from BirGün against those targeting our reporter Sarya Toprak: End the pressure on journalism!
“I AM BEING SYSTEMATICALLY TARGETED”
Our reporter Sarya Toprak stated in her speech: “I would like to thank everyone who is here today and who has conveyed their solidarity. We are going through such a period that we face a regime that targets and demonises everyone, even those with the capacity not to submit to it. We are faced with a clique that has seized the majority of the media and uses the pro-government media to disseminate its own ideas and to demonise everyone it sees as an enemy.”
Reacting to Yeni Akit, Toprak said: “I do not want to call Yeni Akit a newspaper; what they do is not journalism. To me, it is a rag. And a hitman named Zekeriya Say has been systematically targeting me and my family since 18 April. He criminalises my father’s membership in KESK (Confederation of Public Employees’ Unions) by saying, as a public servant and KESK member, he ‘takes to the streets with marginal organisations, he is a terrorist.’ He criminalises the institution I work for and the news I report. We must see that there is a total attack here.”
“WE STRIVE TO ENSURE WOMEN’S VOICES ARE HEARD”
“The Gülistan Doku case was in the dark for six years,” said Toprak, adding: “A woman was murdered, and her family, women, and women’s organisations demanded accountability; thanks to this persistence, the file was reopened.”
Toprak continued: “When this file was opened, it was said, ‘We will go to the end, no matter where it leads.’ Why, then, can this not lead to the names from the AKP mentioned in this file? Why are we targeted when we write about this? Can it only lead as far as they want it to? As BirGün, since our founding, we have strived to shed light on femicides and to ensure women’s voices are heard.”
“END THE PRESSURE ON JOURNALISM”
The press statement by our newspaper, BirGün, was read by our reporter Melisa Ay.
The full statement by BirGün is as follows:
“Today, we are here together to defend not only a colleague but also the public’s right to information and the most basic legal principles.
Those who fill their sails in the storm of lawlessness created by the government in this country are putting journalists, who stand by the public and the righteous, in the crosshairs because of their reporting.
BirGün reporter Sarya Toprak faced a systematic attack after revealing AKP connections in the Gülistan Doku case, a matter closely followed by the public, through her journalistic activities.
Toprak’s personal rights were ignored by Yeni Akit columnist Zekeriya Say, who openly targeted her. Our reporter faced all kinds of slander and defamation.
This attack was not limited to the lynching campaign carried out on social media; our colleague’s family was also targeted by abusing public power. The pressure on journalism has extended to the families of journalists.
Sarya Toprak’s father, Hasan Toprak, a public servant of 30 years, was suspended from his post based on groundless allegations, as if seeking revenge for his daughter’s reporting.
To date, BirGün has pursued femicides that were attempted to be covered up and has been a voice for women who were sought to be silenced. BirGün has practiced public interest journalism to uncover the perpetrators in the cases of Rabia Naz Vatan, Nadira Kadirova, Yeldana Kahraman, Rojin Kabaiş, Gülistan Doku, and many other women and children.
Therefore, the targeting of our reporter today due to her reporting on the Gülistan Doku murder is not merely an attack on the right to information. This attack is directed at those who defend women’s right to life, those following missing women’s cases, the public’s right to learn the truth, and the search for justice. This attack is a clear intimidation given to journalists pursuing the truth. It is a new example of the desire to silence journalists in cases of femicides, suspicious women deaths, missing women’s cases, and child abuse cases, wherever public power and political relations are questioned.
Because we know that in this country, many women deaths are attempted to be closed by calling them ‘suicide,’ ‘accident,’ or ‘suspicious death.’ In every case where files are not effectively investigated, evidence is obscured, perpetrators are protected, or political relations are covered up, journalism is the responsibility to trace the truth on behalf of the public. Defending the right to life of women and children and making their search for justice visible is not a crime; it is a public duty performed on behalf of society.
We openly declare from here:
Journalism is not a crime! It is a sign of weakness for those who cannot silence a journalist through her reports to try and ‘intimidate’ her by targeting her family. We will never accept the targeting of Sarya Toprak along with her family.
We demand the immediate withdrawal of this unlawful decision regarding Hasan Toprak. We will follow the process to ensure that those who targeted Sarya Toprak and her family, and those who disclosed our reporter’s personal data, are held accountable before the judiciary.
The honourable journalists of this country will not bow to threats. Neither Sarya Toprak, nor our friend İsmail Arı who is in prison, nor any other colleague will surrender to this darkness and the thuggery that draws strength from it.
Sarya Toprak is not alone! End the pressure on journalism! Reinstating public servant Hasan Toprak to his post!”
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled BirGün’den, muhabirimiz Sarya Toprak’ı hedef gösterenlere karşı suç duyurusu: Gazetecilik üzerindeki baskılara son verilsin!, published in BirGün newspaper on May 12, 2026.
